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Protecting the petroleum industry: renewed government aid to fossil fuel producers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Kun-Chin Lin
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Abstract

The dual pressures of the global economic crisis in 2008 and high crude prices through the subsequent recovery period have prompted oil-producing countries to adopt a wide range of protectionist measures including subsidies in all forms and trade and investment restrictions. Focusing on fiscal and industrial policy adjustments in the UK and the People's Republic of China since 2008, this paper argues that both governments have sought an increase in tax contributions from the corporate sector in exchange for intensified, targeted support for specific capital investments that will address the challenges of overall decline in domestic oil production and new field exploration and oil recovery opportunities. These novel “rent-sharing” schemes – inadequately captured in recent academic debates over precise measurements of fuel subsidies – raise concerns for fair competition in the upstream market and politicians’ long-term commitment to the transitioning of energy mix toward green and renewable sources.

Type
Research articles
Information
Business and Politics , Volume 16 , Issue 4: Special Issue: Industrial Policy in the Post-Crisis Era: Guest Editor: Vinod K. Aggarwal , December 2014 , pp. 549 - 578
Copyright
Copyright © V.K. Aggarwal 2014 and published under exclusive license to Cambridge University Press 

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